Pole's Mini Monster 210+ Build

P

Pole

Premium Member
So I figured I would get this moved over and try and get the build log up to date. ?So here we go...So this is also posted on another forum, but I firmly believe it has more of a place here with the local club...I have been putting this off for far too long, and if I wait any longer it will be a tank show-off thread and not a build thread. Hopefully updating this will keep me on track and keep me moving. I am easily distracted these days. So here I go?(Warning I tend to get wordy... I will try and break it up with plenty of pictures)I am new to both coral and the salt water hobby in general. I have always been on the outside looking at these beautiful tanks teeming with life, the colorful fish, and the countless varieties of corals thinking to myself that it would be too hard or too expensive to try.I have kept freshwater fish on and off for the past 15 years, and I recently got bit by the bug again. About a year ago I began construction on a patio pond to keep fancy goldfish in. The pond has been hugely successful and I am preparing it for its first winter now. My collection of fancy goldfish expanded quickly from what I could find at the LFS to expensive Ranchus from top online sources. Somewhere along the way I crossed the line between it being a cheap pastime to it being a fully invested hobby.? alt="Image" width="660" />At the beginning of this summer I was the victim of an exploding e-cig battery. I am ok-ish now. A battery in my pocket exploded while I sat at work, lighting my leg and my clothes on fire. It just so happens that this all happened the same day I was supposed to go pick up a large 179.5 gallon tank I had bought to create an indoor pond for my goldfish. I was able to organize a group of my friends to take me to go pick-up the tank a few days later? against doctor?s orders (shhhh). alt="Image" width="660" />After several surgeries and endless doctors? visits, I can say that thankfully it wasn?t as bad as it could have been, but this little adventure put me in bed for two months straight. After a week or so you start going stir crazy. I think I watched every goldfish and planted aquarium video on Youtube while drifting in and out of pain-med induced sleep. At one point I woke up to find myself half way through the BRS52 videos that had cycled through the auto-play. So I figured why not? I started the series over and watched and started to learn.? alt="Image" width="660" />The more I watched, the more I realized that it was possible to do this on a sane budget. And the more I got to thinking about it, I didn?t really need an indoor pond or more goldfish for that matter, and so it began. Out came the pen and paper and I began making lists of everything I thought I would need. alt="Image" width="660" />As you can see I have a long way to go and a lot of work to do. I will post a few more times tonight to try and get the thread caught up to current day. I am new to all this, and I am completely open to thoughts, ideas, suggestions, and opinions on the tank or my thread. alt="Image" width="660" />The first order of business was getting the tank off the stand and getting the back painted up. I taped off the parts I didn?t want paint on and then cover half the house in plastic drop cloths and got to work (if there is a way to make a mess, I will find it). Even being careful I ended up stepping in a few drop of paint and had to wear the socks of shame for the rest of the evening? I used Rust-oleum Black Enamel to paint all of the back except the back of the overflow. I left this unpainted so that I can always hold my phone behind the tank and take a short video to see if anything needs to be rescued. alt="Image" width="660" />Another pressing concern was getting the stand looking better. I don?t know if the stand was powder coated (as I was led to believe it was) or painted, but it was in very rough condition (rusted and badly pitted) when it got to the house. At first I wasn?t allowed to venture out into the sun, so I began trying to strip the ?paint? off with mild chemical strippers. This worked to a point, but it was taking 3 coats (taking a day apiece to dry) to even get close to bare metal. Following that with an hour or so of hard hand sanding got a small portion to bare metal. After a week or so of failing, I decided to up my game a bit.I got the stand outside and attacked it with the radial sander. Pretty much all this accomplished was wearing myself out and making my leg ache? On to bigger and better tools. Next up was the angle grinder and a twisted wire cup brush. Now we were talking, but after a few days with this it was still not proving effective at wearing down the badly pitted and rusted sections. One last upgrade proved to do the trick. I broke out some 60 grit flap disks and went to town. Having never really used an angle grinder before, I learned a lot very fast. I had fun, and with the flap disks I was done in no time! The stand was down to shiny bare metal and ready for a few coats of Hurculiner. alt="Image" width="660" />(This is an "inprogress shot")One last piece of business before I could get the stand back in the house and the tank moved into place?A little not-so-light cleaning? alt="Image" width="660" />
 
So before I go too much farther I need to get this posted. I am ready to order my plumbing parts any day now, but I would really appreciate some help/suggestions from the pros. I honestly have no practical experience doing this and have pieced together what I think might work from research and staring at other's systems.I plan to plumb the tank with 1" schedule 40 red pvc. I will be using the grey schedule 80 fittings and valves. I am using a Herbie style overflow because the tank was already drilled with two holes in the bottom of the overflow. I don't have enough room to safely fit a third hole. In total I will need to plumb the overflow to the sump, the return to the manifold and display refugium, and the return back to the tank. I am using a pair of sea swirls on the return (I forgot to label these in the drawing). alt="Image" width="660" />The one question that comes to mind is this... I know Wye Check Valves are prone to failure and must be properly maintained. I have decided that they are necessary on the system and will be doing to the best I can to maintain them going forward. I have one right before the return line splits to feed the two sea swirls, and I have another before the manifold because the end of the manifold will feed the refugium.?Is it overkill/necessary to have both? Should I go with a single one before the manifolds??Any thoughts or advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated!
 
Skip ahead 10 posts or so and some back and forth...?It was suggested that I make sure both overflows are equidistant from the pipe that will be feeding them. ?I have made the necessary adjustments and they will be.It was recommended and I have decided to T off the main drain line from the DT to feed the refugium. ?I double checked my sump and the drain lines feed into a separate section that then overflows through filter socks, so getting the filter socks out will be a breeze.Plans for the refugium are changing a bit daily right now. ?What is firm is... ?I will have some light rock work, a deep sand bed (3-4 inches), various types of macro algae, and some sort of flow (besides the return line) to keep detritus from settling in the tank. ?As for livestock in the refugium, that is still up in the air. ?
 
Everything is going...I have been lazy and haven't been keeping up with this thread, so now seems like a good time to start catching things up.I have made a few mistakes along the way, and I am currently trying to figure out solutions for one problem in particular but before I can ask for help with that, I need to get caught up. ?So here we go.View attachment 511One of the first things I bought for this build was an RODI machine. ?Like everything else in my build, I bought it used. ?It was old, smelled a little, and hadn't been used in almost a year, so the first thing I did was purchased a Chloramine upgrade kit from BRS and went to work changing out the filters, membrane, and resin. ?Every reefer should have one of these things. ?I can't imagine having to pay for an haul 200+ gallons of water to fill my system. ?I'd go broke and be broken moving that much water.View attachment 509The upgrade kit installs easily and was VERY worth the price. ?After some tinkering and one small flood of the kitchen,?I decided that water should be made outside. ?Thankfully every type of connector under the sun was included with the machine so moving it onto the garden hose was simple enough.View attachment 508I am a bit of a neat freak, so anything I buy new or used gets soaked in vinegar/water and cleaned as thoroughly as possible. ?So after a bit of light cleaning everything was ready to go in the closet until it is needed again.??View attachment 507I have amassed quite a collection of fun toys to use with this tank, but sadly one or two items I bought on impulse and will be selling. ?I got a Zeovit reactor, some zeolite, and half used collection of the army of blue bottles that makes up the Zeovit system. ?I diligently read and reread the starter guide for the Zeovit system, and in the end Mark's videos on Prodibio sold me... ?So the reactor and the Zeolite rocks will be up for sale/trade soon. ?You live and you learn.?View attachment 510Next up I bought my rocks about 4 months early. ?But hey I got them on sale. ?180lbs of dry rock from Marco's Rocks and another 120lbs of dead sand. ?It came as a package deal and with a sweet price. ?I wasn't really sure what to do with the rocks so I decided on letting them soak in some vinegar/water for a few weeks. ?Then I drained all that, mixed up some salt water and soaked them for 3 months. ?I pretty much just put the top on the Brute and forgot about them.Next up.... ? Adventures in QT.
 
[So like a good little reefer I decided that quarantine would be a strict no exceptions policy for my tank from the very beginning. ?I have read both sides of the story, and I see it as necessary, so that is what I will be doing. ?All fish and all coral will go through a 30 day (without new additions) QT process. ?If nothing is found, they will head to an acclimation box in the DT and a few days later be released. ?The only thing I have been going back and forth on quarantining is the cleanup crew.]I have read that some people QT the cleanup crew to make sure they don't bring in any nasty surprises, and I can understand the theory, but I just don't know if I should go that far. ?I would love to hear some opinions on this!View attachment 535[So I was able to find a really nice IM 20 rimless AIO setup to use for QT. ?My goal has always been to have a permanent QT system setup, cycled, and ready. ?I picked this tank up from a member here, took it home and got it all cleaned out. ?][I had a leftover 10 gallon tank that had previously been used for freshwater fish that I will be using as a[?]Hospital Tank. ?It is easier and cheaper to treat a smaller tank, and if I need to[?]treat with anything that would kill my cycle, I might be able to avoid it by moving the fish to the hospital tank. ?There are always some exceptions though, like ich that would have me deep cleaning the QT and starting over.?][ I was able to pick up a used Ghost IM 20 gallon skimmer from another site, and so far it has worked ok... ?Not my favorite piece of equipment but it will do for the time being.][I took a page out of Marc's book and went to HD to get a cheap clip-on shop light and LED bulb to use for temporary lighting. ?I put this on a timer and it worked perfectly.]View attachment 534[About 45 days after the tank cycle started I decided to jump and grab my first fish.? On Election Day I headed down to True Percula and bought a pair of Gladiator Clown Fish.? Unfortunately the smaller (I am guessing male) of the pair didn?t make it.? He died after about two weeks of what I can only assume was Brook.? One morning he refused to eat, showing no interest in Mysis or pellets.? He was floating on his side when I get home from work?later that day with a bit of slime sloughing off his fins.? I did a freshwater dip and immediately ordered some Metro and a few other medications that I should have already had on hand.? He perked up a bit after the dip, but it was only temporary.? Sadly after the freshwater dip he went downhill quickly and by the next morning he was gone.? The remaining fish was dipped the next day and observed closely for the next few weeks.? She(?) never showed any signs of illness and is healthy and eating like a pig.][?View attachment 533][ A few weeks later I traded in the shop light / LED bulb for a much nicer Kessil[?]A150?with a gooseneck mount, again used from a member here on the forums. ?They were also nice enough to throw in a Rasta Zoa frag. ?As tiny as it was, it was my very first frag and I was excited as hell. ?I took it home, acclimated it, dipped it, and got it in the tank. ?After a few hours it opened and has been perfectly happy in the tank since, though for some reason it is my only zoa that has not reproduced yet. ?It has gotten bigger but I still don't have a second polyp. ?Other Zoas I have picked up have grown 3-6 new heads already! ?I hear Rastas are slow growing though, so I will keep my fingers crossed.]View attachment 532View attachment 538[My QT practice has been a little lax, and little sloppy, and quite drawn out. ? I have also learned quite a few lessons... ?Don't overstock a small tank with coral (the addiction is real)... Mistakes happen, learn from them... ?With many growing frags comes larger swings in Alk/Cal, test daily until you zero in on what should be dosed... Manual dosing sucks, setup your dang apex (still to do)... ?The list goes on and on...][After the first two months of daily manual top-offs I saw the light. ? I bought a Tunze Nano top-off and I will never go without one again! ?It is funny how something so simple can improve your reefing experience!][View attachment 537]Everything has been in QT for 3 months now. ?I have had some losses, but I can say that EVERYTHING is healthy and ready for the DT to finish cycling. ?I am excited to get these in their permanent home.?[To date the QT is a little overstocked, but I am babying it daily.? I currently have:]1 Peppermint Shrimp 1 Gladiator Clown Fish 20ish frags 8 Snails 1 Rock NemNext step for the QT, after all the livestock is moved over to the DT, is to be cleaned, moved to a more permanent site in the house, and refilled/reset for the next new fish/frags. ?
 
Nice, it looks like your on your way! Way to go on the QT, I really like your setup. I also have a 10 gallon hospital tank on standby for any medicating that needs to be done and use my Biocube14 for the Frag/QT. I don't QT my CUC, maybe I should...? I don't use any of the water that they come in, just temperature and water acclimate and then put them in with my big long tweezers.?We all learn lessons on the way I think. Sharing them on here just helps others from hopefully not have to go through some of the things we go through. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
 
I was thinking of using pretty much the same procedure as you for CUC. ?Temp acclimate, drip acclimate, rinse and scrub shells with toothbrush when necessary. ?Most things I do become a story of a million ways not to get it right. ?That is what is great about build threads that share their mistakes along with their successes. ?You often learn more from mistakes.
 
Yet again life is kicking my butt and taking the little time I have had to get this updated.  I am stealing a few hours back today and hoping to get a few updates out.I have a planted tank that sits next to reef and I absolutely love finding new plants to put in and watch them grow.  After a ton of research and web surfing I stumbled across some awesome "display refugiums" that just blew me away.  So many different types of algae, so many textures, and best of all a whole rainbow of colors that you would never see in a freshwater tank.View attachment 947I was sold and had to have one!  I quickly found a 50(ish) gallon cube that I thought would work well for my system.  I made a huge mistake here and while I measured to make sure that the tank and the fuge would fit under the stand, I didn't bother to measure the space in between the legs of the stand to make sure the tank would have room to slide through.  I lucked out and turning the tank on it's side it had less than a 1/2" clearance and could be tumbled into position under the stand.  Remember to measure!View attachment 948So this tank was undrilled and had no overflow installed, so I was going to get learn a few new tricks.  I ordered an overflow from Marc and got a few diamond hole saws and went to work.  Taking it slow, maybe 5-10 mins a hole, I was able to drill both holes for a herbie overflow with little problem.  I then siliconed the overflow in place and gave it a few days to cure.  After the silicone cured I did a few leak tests on the tank.  I first filled the overflow, up to the holes, with water and let is sit for an hour and then checked for leaks.  Then I filled the tank, emptied to overflow, and let it sit overnight.  Thankfully my first silicone job was a success and no water leaked anywhere.View attachment 952Next up I wanted to build a "floor" for the stand that would keep my equipment, sump, and fuge off the carpet.  I built the floor in two pieces, used slices of a 4x4 to support the plywood floor and prevent bowing, and painted it black.  A little help from a friend and some creative manuvering and we were able to get the floor in place under the fuge.  View attachment 950View attachment 951So after the tank, the first big purchase I made was buying a sump.  This was a bit of an impulse buy, and a bit ignorance.  When you first start out in this hobby you see all this amazing looking equipment, and you don't exactly know where you need to spend money, and where you can save a bit.  All I knew was I wanted a big sump, and I thought I needed something that looked "cool".  After a bit of searching I was able to find someone selling a never used Bashsea sump for excellent price.  I jumped on it, and this beast sat under my stairs for 3 months until I could finally get to this point in the build.View attachment 949View attachment 946View attachment 945
 
Wow coming along very nicely. Very "cool" sump for sure, glad it fits! :)Thanks for the update, keep them coming! :)
 
Thanks!  It looks nice, but in hindsight I could have gone with a cheaper sump that would do exactly the same job.  Now I am hesitant to build covers for the side.  I almost feel like I have to show the sump to not be wasting money.There are also a few questionable design decisions someone made when making this sump.  Worst of which is the probe holders.  It is almost impossible to slip a probe into the rubber grommet because the rim of the sump blocks the probe.  The probes (neptune probes) are about an inch too tall.  The grommets are also a bit too tight to allow some probes to be inserted from the top.  Thankfully I got all my probes in, but I almost gave up trying.If I had it all to do again, I would design my own and find someone to build it for me.
 
Are the grommets that go around the probes removable?  If so, can you not put the grommets on the probe first and then place them in the holders?  I haven't seen that type before.
 
They are removable through a small front facing channel that is cut at the front of each probe spot.  You basically have to squeeze the grommet through a narrow channel to remove it.  To put it back in with the probe in the grommet would be impossible.I had some luck, with some probes, removing the grommet and feeding the probe all the way through until the grommet is loose on the cord.  Then squeezing the grommet in place and feeding the probe back through the grommet and holder from the bottom.  Problem is the grommets are sized so that they are only as wide as the probe body.  Many of the probes have a  cap or ring around the top, that is slightly wider than the probe body, that secures the cord to them.  The grommets will not pass over these rings/caps.The picture shows it better than I could ever describe it.  This is not my sump, but it is the exact same design.  View attachment 953
 
Kinda wondering if cutting the grommet in half horizontally would make this easier.  The grommets have a wide lip on the top and bottom.  If I were to cut the lip off the bottom, I could place the grommet on the probe, slide the probe and grommet into the hole, and it should hold them in place as intended.If I get an ORP probe, or when I have to replace some of the current probes, I might give this a try.
 
Ah, I see now!  Yeah, I like my simple hole that I just have to put a zip tie around the probe to keep it in place.  There is nothing that says you can't do the same thing.  Maybe drill the grommets out a little bigger first.Good luck on the build, I like those tank dimensions!  Looking forward to seeing this progress!
 
Thanks!  Not a bad option.  I will have to play around with it next time I try installing a probe.
 
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